Imagine logging into your online investment portfolio one morning only to find your life-savings completely gone. How do you readjust your expectations? How does this impact your kids’ education? How does this impact a daughter’s wedding? How does this impact your dreams of traveling / joining a country club / buying a boat / etc. during your retirement? How will you present this news to your spouse and manage her expectations?
Don’t read any more of this for 20 seconds while you ponder yourself in this situation.
You might think “so this is what a lifetime of work amounted to…hmmm” Depressing right?
The victims, who will not be able to retire or enjoy their golden years will statistically live less years than those who enjoy a stress-free retirement, spend time with family and pursue leisure and exercise. I’m sorry, but these guys are no better than any street criminal who mugs an elderly person and pistol whips them onto a life support machine. It may not be as graphic or immediate, but the end results are the same.
These Enron guys are more deserving of life sentences than those who commit a crime against an individual. There’s been some commentary about being sympathetic to Kenneth Lay…I say BS. You could fill an oil tanker with the victims’ collective stress, sadness, and pain that these criminals caused. Worst of all is the loss of these people’s hope and optimism towards the future.
As Americans, I think many of us have become so “aspirational” that we tend to empathize with the wealthy/famous/powerful as a means of making ourselves feel like we are peers in that club. Or, if it is a perceived as a club, then maybe we simply want to ensure that they don’t cut any membership privileges by the time we can afford to join.
We make choices about how we walk down a dark street. Can we tell which company is akin to a well-lit street? Can we carry something to protect ourselves? The US government implemented the Sarbanes-Oxley regulations which is akin to installing street lamps. But in the world of white-collar crime, we really can’t protect ourselves when the crime commences. This is where we need to alter a reasonable person’s motivation for committing such a crime through much harsher punishments. It is my hope that Skilling gets the maximum sentence and loses all of his $61M. My real hope would be for him to serve time in a Texas prison with muggers, carjackers, and other common somewhat violent criminals who appreciate men with soft hands like Jeff.
But sadly, he’s going to emerge from jail around retirement age, pull a few million out of his offshore account, buy a house in Italy, buy a boat, and have a pleasant retirement. Bastard.
Leave a Reply